A high calling flouted by low living results in deep suffering. Lamentations gives us a portrait of the bitter suffering the people of Jerusalem experienced when sin caught up with them and God brought judgment on them. Every material goal they had lived for collapsed. But although God disciplined them because of their sin, he did not abandon them—that was their great hope. Despite their sinful past, God would restore them if they returned to him. Hope is found only in the Lord. Our grief should turn us toward him, not away from him.
- Our Grief should turn us To Him, not away from Him.
Lamentations 4 is a powerful chapter that depicts the devastating consequences of sin and God’s judgment on Jerusalem. We see the types of suffering they endured, roles that are reversed, the rich are now poor, respected are disrespected, etc. and and the need for repentance.
11The Lord has fulfilled His fury, He has poured out His fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion, And it has devoured its foundations. Lamentations 4:11 (NKJV)
What is your foundations? Money, job, family, hobbies, health? Jesus reminded us that He is our foundation or “rock” from life’s storms. God may shake our foundation to let us see that we’ve been trusting in the wrong things for security.
22The punishment of your iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; He will no longer send you into captivity. Lamentations 4:22 (NKJV)
Despite the grim picture, Lamentations 4 hints at a glimmer of hope. The very act of lamenting and acknowledging sin can be a step towards restoration. Ultimately, the hope for restoration lies in God’s mercy and faithfulness. Lamentations 4 challenges us to examine own lives, recognize the destructive power of sin, and turn to God for forgiveness and restoration. It can also serve as a reminder that true hope is found in God, not in worldly things
2. Hope is found only in the LORD.
“Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us.” (Lamentations 5:1)
The words ‘us’ and ‘our’ and ‘we’ are all over this chapter. Here, for the first time in the book of Lamentations, the grieving people begin to speak.
Scholars debate how many ‘voices’ there are in the book of Lamentations. Lamentations is like a great drama with different voices – the voice of the city, the voice of the prophet, and now the voice of the people. But there is only one voice that ultimately matters.
For the first three chapters, the people have been sitting in silence. Someone has been speaking for them. Someone has been speaking to them. Some call this person the Counselor, we are introduced to Him in Chapter 3, “I am the Man,” Jesus.
What happens in this remarkable book is that a counselor comes alongside these grieving people and ministers to them in their sorrow and loss.
Here is the fruit of the Counselor’s ministry: He brings them from a place where they are unable to speak (2:10), to a place where for the very first time since the trauma they have suffered that they are able to speak to God for themselves. The Counselor brings them to a place where they can pray.
As you would expect, the prayer comes out of tremendous agony and pain. That reminds us of something important – you don’t have to be in a composed frame of mind, filled with a wonderful sense of peace before you can pray. If you have to have it all sorted out before you can pray, most of us are never going to get there.
When Hanna prayed, she was deeply distressed and wept bitterly (1 Sam. 1:10). When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, his soul was overwhelmed with sorrow. You don’t have to be calm, confident, and clear-minded before you can pray. You come as you are to God. You come, not because you have, but in order to receive. There’s more.
But you, O LORD, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations. (Lamentations 5:18-19)
Through the ministry of the Counselor, the people finally get to the place where they are able to pray. They lay their sorrow before the Lord. The sum of it is found in verses 17 and 18: “For this our heart has become sick, for these things our eyes have grown dim, for Mount Zion which lies desolate. But…” What is the ‘but’ for? “But you, O Lord, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations” (3:19).
This is like Ephesians 2 where Paul lays out the full extent of the human problem: “You were dead in… trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). “But God, being rich in mercy… made us alive together with Christ” (Eph. 2:4, 5).
They are looking at the ruined city, but the Wonderful Counselor has brought them to the place where they can see that God doesn’t depend on a city. He has brought them to a place of faith: “You, O Lord, reign forever: your throne endures to all generations.”
3. The LORD Restores us, when we Return to Him.
Turn us back to You, O Lord, and we will be restored; Renew our days as of old, Lamentations 5:21 (NKJV)
God is honored here in this expression of hope: “Lord, restore us to yourself! Lord, if we have you, we know we can face anything. Whatever happens, there is hope for us, so long as we have you!” .
There is a Wonderful Counselor who can bring you to a place where you can pray. He can establish you in faith. He can restore your hope.
Lamentations ends with God’s people waiting in hope, sustained by the ministry of the Counselor who was yet to come.
The good news of the gospel is that this Wonderful Counselor has come. God became “the Man,” and when he did, he went to the lowest point and the darkest place. But that was not the end for him. He passed through the lowest place, and he came out of it in the triumph of his resurrection.
Message Audio/Video and Outline: https://upwards.church/leander-campus/watch-now-message-videos
Watch Messages: YouTube-Upwards Church
Read Along Daily Bible Reading: YouVersion (https://www.bible.com/organizations/370f8a6e-16bc-464f-8c43-0b7623fd2952)
Sources:
Life Application Bible Notes (Tyndale, 2007), 1305.
Open the Bible, Prayer and Praise, Lamentations 5
Upwards Church 